Sunday, January 1, 2012

A Zuni New Year's Eve

I cannot believe it's now 2012. Twenty eleven flew by with the blink of an eye, and December only magnified that feeling. Between my birthday, the holidays, traveling to Buffalo and preparing my old condo for rent, it was difficult to focus on the true meaning of the holidays and get into the spirit of the season. I hope that in 2012 I can take time to slow down and take in the moment rather than focusing too much on what's next.

With the hustle and bustle of the last week of 2011, the last thing we wanted to do was go out on New Year's Eve. I wanted to make a special dinner at home using the a la card for the Butcher & Larder before the 2011 deck expired. I decided to try another beloved recipe from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook: short ribs braised in beer.

Mashed potatoes or browned spaetzle is recommended as sides, and since it was NYE, I decided to try my hand at making spaetzle. I don't have a spaetzle making gadget, and neither pushing the dough through a colander or cutting the strips above the boiling water seemed too appealing to me. I figured that using a potato ricer with the bigger holes would be the next best thing, and luckily, it worked like a charm!

The spaetzle was increadibly bland upon boiling them, but it soaked up the juices from the short ribs like a champ. The short ribs were tender and leaked their rich flavor into the onion sauce. Brushing the short ribs with dijon mustard for a few minutes in the broiler cut the indulgent richness. Hope you ended 2011 on a delicious bite.